An O.A.P.'s view of everything.

Monthly Archives: April 2012

At the reser the clouds were low, the far hills covered and a soaked Airdale dog-walker said, “It’s Bank Holiday all right!”
A wet start to Bank Holiday Monday but not cold. And a pot of tea went down well once back at home.

Happy Easter Sunday! It’s a bit on the bleak side here weather wise. There were ‘twitchers’ about at 8.15 but as I rode a bleakly overcast reservoir path a mate, also on his canal-bike and with his dog, was coming toward me.
Meanwhile clouds shrouded a distant Holcombe Hill. The morning darkened and the wind howled.
🙂

It was dull on the way ‘out’ earlier but it’s brightening-up now. (elevenish) I missed the heron by inches again – its got better eye-sight than me – but I’ll snap it one fine morning.
Gulls, Grebe, Swans and maybe a Cormorant around today, with a few Coot paddling the calm water at Elton.
🙂

There are that many wheelie-bins these days they’re taking-over – like something made of plastic, yet alive, from Doctor Who!
Easter weekend kicks-off with a cool, overcast Good Friday with a touch of rain in the air. Plenty of dog-walkers about though this morning around Elton and there was a distinct smell of burning on the breeze.
🙂

Ice on puddles melted fast in the sun and it was warmer this morning with much less wind. Folk were about too, walking dogs, riding bikes…
From here it was a ride along the canal and then back home via Banana Walk, which is a man-made attempt at re-creating the natural – for dogs!
🙂

A few days ago folk around here were sunbathing in back-gardens!
Today it’s winter again with snow falling sideways in the blustery east wind. I was alone then, this morning, low-geared against the wind along freezing wet lanes, without even a dog-walker in view. The wind didn’t rustle the trees – it crashed and rattled ’em – hissed across lane puddles and whined through the hawthorns.
There were real waves on the reservoir. Not pleasant sunlit ripples. These things were banging against the side walls. Yet this just a minor, water-board pond. Even walking, with the bike, against the wind, wasn’t easy along the wall-path, and cold fingers could hardly get the camera from a zipped pocket let alone press a tiny button.

Definitely a touch of April Showers this morning – the trouble is, around here April Showers last till somewhere in June or July – then winter sets in! But a fair drip of water has dropped as the overflow channels were doing overtime this morning.
An icy north-east wind bade hardly any pedalling on the way here but a real fight to get back.
Of course, now I’m sat here writing about the rain, the sun comes out.
🙂

A murky Monday morning with rain definitely in the air. But, not cold along the lanes on the bike.
At the Sailing-Club end a bridge crosses the overflow channel and here you’re actually lower than the reservoir surface.
The lane here is tarmac (Sailing-Club Access) so it’s easy to ride.

It’s back to bright sunshine on this All Fools Day and, it being a Sunday, there were many folk tramping or riding the lanes.
Looking over the hills from the reservoir, across farms and farm tracks, old wooden ‘telegraph poles’ dot the landscape (Eureka!) and across the water far bigger steel pylons carrying our ‘juice’ cross the land. On the hills a barrage of turbines stand motionless – in calm April the first irony – perhaps?
😉